Team building with the Royal Bank of Scotland

The Waterways Trust Scotland is working with staff from the Royal Bank of Scotland on a series of team building events which are helping to transform sections of the Lowland Canals.

The initiative started in 2007 and to date and so far more than 400 bank employees have helped to spruce up the Forth & Clyde Canal and the Union Canal from Bowling Harbour to Auchinstarry and The Falkirk Wheel to Wester Hailes and enhance the environment surrounding The Falkirk Wheel.

As well as enhancing the environment for people visiting the waterways, the work has improved accessibility and provided new habitats for a wealth of wildlife

Activities undertaken to date have included:

• Clearing overgrown sections of towpath
• Towpath restoration
• Planting over 800 new trees and more than 12,000 shrubs
• Building and installing bird and bat boxes and bird tables
• Creating wood and stone carvings for the seating area at Auchinstarry Basin
• Improving the car park facilities and pathways at The Falkirk Wheel
• Created a wildflower meadow at The Falkirk Wheel

In 2009, the Trust will be working with RBS employees to:

• create a Community Garden/Orchard at Wester Hailes
• carry out planting, re-planting and maintenance work to existing planting at Bowling in addition to painting and staining seating in the area and creating new planters
• create a marsh garden and wooden resting perches at Auchinstarry as well as planting shrubs carrying out maintenance work on planting schemes and seating and installing a doggie bin and waste bin
• install doggie bins and waste bins at The Falkirk Wheel
• plant a new hedgerow at Rotherwood which will include fruit trees